I am participating in SoCS hosted by Linda G. Hill (click on the link for the ping back to the original blog post and to see the rules). Today’s prompt is a word that “starts with or contains ‘cel.'” You can find the rules at the bottom of this post.
The word I have chosen to write about is “cell phone” — okay it’s two words.
It was the first word that came to mind when I read the prompt, maybe because I was just texting with a friend I haven’t spoken to in a while.
I remember my first cell phone at the age of 16 — a startak — the kind that flipped open, that had a punch in keyboard, basically just for dialing, and that had a battery pack almost as big as the phone attached to the outside.
Remember when you could exchange just the battery instead of the phone?
Remember when we had to memorize phone numbers? Honestly, I can’t even think of one phone number that I know by heart other than my own.
My daughter is 15 months old, and she is already interested in my cell phone. She is already pressing buttons. She knows it is the place where her kids songs come from. She knows its the place where we can video chat Nanna, who lives approximately 5,000 miles away, across the ocean. Isn’t that crazy? My mom can see my baby…in real time…on video…for FREE over a wi-fi connection. My mom only gets to see her in person once or twice a year, but we can talk every few days via videochat. My child will know what her grandmother looks like, sounds like, even though we live on a different continent.
All this technology has arisen in the past 20 or so years. Where will we be in 20 years? In 40 years?
I remember being young and having an Atari and Nintendo. Those seem so outdated now. Will my child go to school in the Metaverse? Are we on our way to becoming like Ready Player One? In some ways, I hope not.
When I was 4, I learned how to use the VCR (remember those, ha!). I taught my grandfather how to use it. What will my daughter be capable of at 4? I have no doubt she will teach me a lot of things, German for one. Although I’ve lived in Austria now since 2017, my German is “intermediate” at best. She will be fluent — bilingual. I wish I had that advantage as a child.
I remember stumbling onto my Dad playing Civilization on the computer when I was a kid. I started playing it and have never stopped. Will something similar happen with my daughter? The computer can open up so many things. I learned to type on my own, for example, simply by using the computer. What will she uncover with technology?
I got off on a tangent a little bit there, but it is all to say that technology is amazing. It is also sometimes a burden. This inability to unplug. I feel naked without my phone. Inevitably whenever I forget my phone, or if it has run out of batteries, I always think of something I need to google. Every time! Information is always at our fingertips. All. The. Time. What happens when it isn’t? Would I be able to find my way without Google Maps? Doubtful.
I’m both excited and nervous about human advancement. I wonder what is to come.
The Legal Alien 